Lothar Matthaus is a former German footballer and a football administrator. He was one of the greatest German players and is often regarded as one of the best midfielders to have ever played the game. Matthaus started off his career for the German side Borussia Monchengladbach and emerged as one of the most promising young players in the country. Before long, Matthaus was called up to the German national team and in a career that lasted 18 years, he helped the club win the World Cup in 1990 and holds the record for the most number of caps. Matthaus played for some of the biggest clubs in Europe during a glittering career. He played for Bayern Munich in two stints with a four year spell at Italian club Inter Milan sandwiched in between. Matthaus helped the German club win 5 German league titles and also helped Inter Milan win the Italian league title. Towards the end of his career, Matthaus evolved into a sweeper from a midfielder and performed the role admirably for a long time. Later on, he went on to become a manager for several clubs as well as the Bulgarian and Hungarian national teams.

Lothar Herbert Matthaus was born on 21 March, 1961 to Heinz Matthaus and his wife Katharina Matthaus in Erlangen, West Germany. The exact occupation of his parents is unknown.

Like most professional footballers who went on to play for their country, he too showed an early interest in the game and before long he started to play for FC Herzogenaurach. Though it was a small club but he learnt about the intricacies of football here only.

He commenced his career as a professional footballer at the age of 18 when he signed a contract with German first division club Borussia Monchengladbach in 1979. The club had won the German league title two years prior to his joining and presented an excellent opportunity.

He developed as a midfielder, who could dictate the flow of the game, during his time at Borussia Monchengladbach and during his five years stay became an integral member of the club. However, in 1984, after having impressed the scouts of Bayern Munich, he joined the biggest club in Germany.

In 1980, he was selected for the German national team for the European Championship and although the national team won the championship, he did not have a big part to play. Two year later, at the World Cup in Spain, Matthaus got to play two games and Germany ended as the runners up.

He developed into one of the world’s best midfielders during his time at Bayern Munich that started in 1984 and during his four seasons at the club, he helped the club win two German league titles. Bayern Munich also got to the final of the European Cup but were beaten by Porto in a closely contested game.

He had become an integral part of the German national team by the time the 1986 World Cup came along. He scored the solitary goal in the round of 16 game and played a part in keeping Diego Maradona relatively quiet in the final, which Germany lost narrowly. Two years later at EUFA Euro 1988, Matthaus captained the German team, which reached the semi final.

In 1988, Matthaus moved to Italian side Inter Milan and in his very first season helped the team win the league title. Two years later, he helped the club win the UEFA Cup and in his four seasons at the club he scored 40 goals in 115 league appearances. After his four year stint at Inter Milan came to an end, he returned to Bayern Munich.

He scored 4 goals in the 1990 World Cup in Italy to help the German national team win their third World Cup after having been runners up in the previous two editions. He missed out on the European Championship that followed two years later due to injuries but captained the team in the subsequent World Cup in the USA. Matthaus changed his game to become a sweeper but Germany could only go as far as the quarter finals. Eight years after winning the World Cup with Germany, Matthaus played a minor role in the World Cup in France as the team crashed out in the quarter finals.

Matthaus’ second stint at Bayern Munich started in 1992 and over the eight seasons that he was at the club, he helped them win three league titles, a UEFA Cup and a runner up finish in the UEFA Champions League. Matthaus scored 85 goals in 302 league games across the two stints at Bayern Munich and remains one of the clubs’ legendary players. Subsequently, he played briefly for the Metro Stars in Major League Soccer in the United States.

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Following the end of his playing career, Matthaus became the manager of SK Rapid Wien in September of 2001 but left the job the following year. After leaving SK Rapid Wien, Matthaus took over the reins at SK Partizan in the Serbian league and not only guided the club to the league title but also took them to the UEFA Champions League. He left the club after a year.

Matthaus became the manager of the Hungarian national team in 2003 but left after three years after he was unsuccessful in helping the team qualify for the World Cup in Germany. After quitting as the manager of the Hungary national team, Matthaus became the manager of the Brazilian club Atletico Paranaense the same year but it was a short stint. Shortly thereafter he managed Reb Bull Salzburg in the Austrian league and left after a season even though he had helped them win the league.

In 2008, Matthaus became the manager of the Israeli team Maccabi Netanya but left after a season after the club failed to mount a title challenge. Two years later he became the manager of the Bulgarian national team but was sacked a year later as the team failed to qualify for the European Championships.

Lothar Matthaus is one of Germany’s greatest players. However, his most important work was accomplished at the 1990 World Cup when he led the national team to the title with a total of 4 goals in the competition.

Lothar Matthaus was awarded the Ballon D’Or in 1990.

In 1991, he became the FIFA World Player of the Year.

He played in five consecutive World Cups, which remains a record. In addition to that, his total of 150 appearances for the German national team too remains an all time record.